1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for displaying an anomalous pixel of an image obtained by an image capturing apparatus, an information processing system, an information processing method, and a storage medium storing a program causing a computer to execute the information processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image captured by a digital image capturing apparatus is configured with a plurality of pixels representing a color and shading. However, in the plurality of pixels, a pixel termed an anomalous pixel is present. The anomalous pixel refers to a defective pixel which indicates a value out of an output range determined in advance with respect to predetermined input owing to abnormality of a circuit and an element in an image capturing apparatus, and a pixel which indicates a value of other abnormality or failure. The anomalous pixel affects image quality of a captured image. Thus, the anomalous pixel is corrected by replacing the anomalous pixel, for example, with an average pixel value of the pixels surrounding it. Then, the image after correction is provided to a user.
This correction processing is in most cases automatically executed and may sometimes become unnatural. Thus, a technique to confirm suitability of correction is required.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-8928, a technique is discussed in which the whole of an image before correction and the whole of an image after correction are displayed side by side in a different position on a screen to easily confirm suitability of correction. Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-126162, a technique is discussed in which an image region designated by a user among images after correction is switched to an image before correction for display.
However, correction of the anomalous pixel is executed in a local region. Thus, an influence of the correction on the image quality is local. In addition, when the whole images before and after correction are compared in confirming suitability of correction, a user may make a misjudgment being affected by the entire image information. In a technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-8928, the whole of images before and after correction is displayed respectively. Therefore, it cannot compare local regions. In a technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-126162, only one of images before and after correction can be displayed. Therefore, it is not suitable for making comparison by grasping characteristics of respective images at the same time.